May 9, 2008 9:58 AM CST by Michelle Lore

Leonard, Street and Deinard, P.A.

A mentor once told Arthur G. Boylan, “you don’t want to be a behind-the-desk lawyer.” It’s a message the Leonard, Street and Deinard attorney has taken to heart.

Boylan currently serves as chairman of the Newer Lawyers Committee in the Minnesota chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He has also served on the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Diversity Task Force and was a liaison to the association’s Civil Litigation Section Governing Council.

Boylan also enjoys writing and speaking. Last year he moderated a panel on the standards developing in electronic discovery, and he’s made several presentations to members of his firm on the topic. He also recently co-authored a chapter on class actions in the “Minnesota Business Torts Deskbook.”

A self-proclaimed people person, Boylan says being busy is energizing.

“I get a huge charge out of people,” he says. “I get a great deal of satisfaction from working with all of my colleagues, working with people in other law firms, working with our clients. … Really, that is when I’m at my best.”

In addition to his bar association activities, for the past two months Boylan has been engrossed in a pro bono case involving a prisoner who needs a heart and lung transplant. He says the case is interesting, challenging and he’s genuinely concerned about his client.

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“I think it’s important to find a pro bono project you really care about,” Boylan says. “[If you’re] doing pro bono just for the sake of pro bono, you are likely to burn out.”

Boylan has been with Leonard, Street and Deinard since graduation, concentrating his practice on business and commercial litigation with a heavy focus on class actions. Since day one at the firm, he’s served as a key member of the legal team that defended Allianz against allegations that it violated consumer protection laws.

Part of Boylan’s job was to convince third-party witnesses to appear at trial and testify in support of Allianz. The case settled late last year, just prior to what likely would have been an eight- to 12-week trial.

Other accomplishments in Boylan’s career include:

• getting a dismissal in a breach of contract and fraud lawsuit brought against a Texas corporation in federal court;

• defending an international manufacturer and importer in a federal lawsuit alleging contract claims and violations of various Minnesota statutes, ultimately negotiating a settlement for less than 7 percent of the plaintiff’s original demand; and

• representing a national mortgage lender and an individual commodities investor in two separate cases, reaching favorable settlements for both his clients prior to filing a complaint.

With his caseload, pro bono work and professional activities, Boylan is clearly not a lawyer who sits behind a desk all day.

“There’s an element of professionalism and respect for your colleagues that you develop when you are out and involved in bar association activities and contributing on projects that are not simply doing the work of a lawyer in a law office,” he says.